Democrats on a powerful US House of Representatives panel have written to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor formally calling on him to submit to questioning in its probe into paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein.

The request came just hours after an even more consequential document was issued: a Letters Patent signed by King Charles stripping his brother of the titles of prince and "his royal highness".

In their letter, Democrats on the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform said Mountbatten Windsor's close relationship with Epstein – coupled with a recently leaked email between the pair – "confirms our suspicion that you may have valuable information about the crimes committed by Mr Epstein and his co-conspirators".

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Ranking member Robert Garcia and his colleagues also referenced the "appalling allegations" made by Australian-based Epstein accuser Virginia Giuffre in her posthumous memoir, flight records showing Mountbatten Windsor in Epstein's plane from 1999 to 2006 and "identified financial records containing notations such as 'massage for Andrew'".

They called on Mountbatten Windsor to make himself available for a transcribed interview with the committee and provide insight into the crimes of Epstein's co-conspirators. 

"It has been publicly reported that your friendship with Mr Epstein began in 1999 and that you remained close through and after his 2008 conviction for procuring minors for prostitution," the politicians wrote.

"It has also been reported that you travelled with Epstein to his New York residence, the Queen's residence at Balmoral, and to Mr Epstein's private island in the US Virgin Islands, where you have been accused of abusing minors."

Mountbatten Windsor has not commented but has consistently denied the allegations.

In 2022, he reached an out-of-court settlement with Giuffre after she filed a civil suit against him in New York.

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While he didn't admit wrongdoing, Mountbatten Windsor did acknowledge Giuffre's suffering as a victim of sex trafficking.

The former prince was given until November 20 to respond.

"Rich and powerful men have evaded justice for far too long. Now, former Prince Mountbatten Windsor has the opportunity to come clean and provide justice for the survivors," Garcia said, in a statement. 

"Oversight Democrats will not stop fighting for accountability and transparency for survivors of Epstein and his gang of co-conspirators."

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The committee chair has strong subpoena powers but they don't belong to Garcia on his own, and would be unlikely to apply to a foreign national.

No one from the Republican majority signed the letter and they were yet to comment this morning. 

The King announced on October 31 that he was removing his brother's titles and evicting him from his royal residence over his relationship with convicted sex offender Epstein.

Demand had been growing on the palace to oust the 65-year-old prince from his Royal Lodge home over new revelations about his friendship with Epstein and renewed attention on sexual abuse allegations by Giuffre.

That move was made official on Thursday (early Friday AEDT).

"THE KING has been pleased by Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the Realm dated 3 November 2025 to declare that Mountbatten Windsor Mountbatten Windsor shall no longer be entitled to hold and enjoy the style, title or attribute of 'Royal Highness' and the titular dignity of 'Prince'," an announcement published Wednesday in The Gazette – the UK's official public record – said.

The Letters Patent is a centuries-old type of document used by monarchs to bestow — and remove — appointments or titles.

The King's decision was welcomed by the family of Giuffre, who died by suicide in April at the age of 41.

She said that in the early 2000s, when she was a teenager, she was caught up in Epstein's sex trafficking ring and exploited by Mountbatten Windsor and other influential men. 

Epstein was found dead in a New York City jail cell in 2019 in what investigators called a suicide.

Mountbatten Windsor is moving from Royal Lodge, the 30-room mansion near Windsor Castle where he has lived for more than 20 years, into a more remote home funded by his brother on the King's 8100-hectare Sandringham Estate in eastern England.

– Reported with Associated Press.

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Comic icon Ben Elton has vehemently supported the Albanese government's looming restrictions on social media and says it has made him a "proud Australian".

He has also argued strongly for net zero and suggested it is time to dump warning labels on alcohol.

Elton has never been the type of man to leave you wondering what he thinks of the world and at times that has made him into something of a trouble magnet.

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https://omny.fm/shows/neil-mitchell-asks-why/comedy-trolls-rock-n-roll-with-ben-elton/embed?style=cover

A dual Australian-British citizen, he lives in Australia and is famous for a cutting-edge style of comedy in TV series like The Young Ones and Black Adder.

That, and for stating views which can irritate mainstream media.

This week on my podcast, Neil Mitchell Asks Why?, he was true to form. 

In a few weeks, laws take force in Australia restricting social media to people over 16.

Although broadly supported, the laws have also been criticised as tokenistic and clumsy.

As is tradition on the podcast, I asked Elton what he would do if he were king of the country – no parliament, no opinion polls.

"I would carry on with what I think is a wonderful, brave decision by the current government to tackle the curse of social media depriving young people of their childhood," he said.

"There's no simple solution to such an invasive and ubiquitous thing, but we have to grasp the nettle.

"And I think I'm proud, as an Australian, that our government, uniquely in the world, has had the guts to stand up to the tech bros and say we will not let children's imaginations be stolen on our watch if we can possibly avoid it."

The danger of climate change, too, would be high on his agenda as it has been for many years.

"I would double down on net zero because I think the fact we aren't the biggest carbon consumer in the world does not negate our responsibility to do our bit for what is undoubtedly an existential crisis facing humanity – which is that we are in the process of destroying our own house, which is the planet we live on."

Elton is an extraordinary talent.

He has written 16 novels and has now released his autobiography, This Is What I've Done.

It covers his early career and success – The Loved Ones was his first TV series – and friendships with people like George Harrison, Paul McCartney, Stephen Fry and Dawn French.

He also explains his fractious relationship with some press and his reaction to unflattering reviews of his work, which also includes five West End plays.

"I've had a fair few pastings in my time. 

"And I think not always fairly, sometimes perhaps fairly, but it's always hurtful. 

"I've never talked about it in the past because it's not of interest to the public.

"Why would they care that I've been kind of personally attacked a fair few times?

"Often what purports to be a review of my work is really a sledging of me. Um, and yeah, it's hard."

For that reason, he refuses to use any social media, although it would be a handy promotional tool.

"Having been trolled in the old media on and off for 40 years, I certainly didn't want to make myself available because now trolling is universal. 

"Now, kids at school get trolled when they turn their phone on."

And a final act as King of the World?

"I would stop putting warnings on alcohol because I love it. And, and whilst I don't mind them doing it with the fags, I'm sick of being told off every time I have a drink.

"You can't have a world which tries to legislate against all things that could be problematic for me.

"Having a drink is a wonderful part of my life.

"I don't consider it to be dysfunctional if it knocks a couple of years off my life, as I'm being told by health experts, it will. I'm telling you, it's only the last two years. 

"And having watched both my parents die, probably a little bit too late, because medical science keeps us all alive longer than our brains or our bodies, frankly, I'm quite happy to miss those two years.

"So yeah, I'd probably draw a line under any more blooming drink responsibly and drink safe adverts because I'm sick of being ticked off every time I have a nice beer at the end of a day's work."

Neil Mitchell's podcast is posted at 6am each Tuesday. 

Typhoon Kalmaegi has lashed Vietnam with fierce winds and torrential rains as it made landfall after leaving more than 100 people dead and dozens missing in the Philippines.

Three fishermen were reported missing on Thursday after their boat was swept away by strong waves on Ly Son, an island in Vietnam's Quang Ngai province. A search operation was launched but later suspended due to worsening weather, state media said.

Authorities said more than 537,000 people were evacuated, many by boat, as floodwaters rose and landslides loomed.

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Vietnam's central provinces were already reeling from floods due to record-breaking rains. Kalmaegi is forecast to dump more than 600 millimetres of rain in some areas.

An unusually strong storm for the region in November, Kalmaegi packed sustained winds of about 183km/h with gusts reaching up to 220km/h over the South China Sea as it approached Vietnam.

Waves up to three metres high battered the coast in coastal cities like Danang, and strong winds uprooted trees in Dak Lak province. Many homes in Quy Nhon, also a coastal city, were left without power for hours.

The country's financial hub, Ho Chi Minh City, faced a heightened risk of severe floods. High tides were expected on the Saigon River, and authorities warned up to 100 millimetres of expected rainfall could inundate low-lying areas.

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State of emergency in the Philippines

Across the central Philippines, Kalmaegi killed at least 114 people and left 127 missing in the deadliest natural disaster to hit the country this year. Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr declared a state of emergency on Thursday.

One of the mourners was Krizza Espra, who went Thursday to a mortuary where the bodies of her husband and three children were being held.

They were killed when the roof of their home collapsed in the town of Liloan in the Cebu district of the Philippines.

She said four others in her family — including her mother and aunt — remain missing.

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"I hope someone can help speed up the search for their bodies before (they) decompose, we hope we can still recognise them," she said.

The typhoon displaced more than 560,000 villagers in the Philippines, including nearly 450,000 who were evacuated to emergency shelters, the Office of Civil Defence said.

Marcos' "state of national calamity" declaration allows the government to disburse emergency funds faster and prevent food hoarding and overpricing. Disaster-response officials warned that another tropical cyclone from the Pacific could strengthen into a super typhoon and batter the northern Philippines early next week.

Among the deaths attributed to Kalmaegi were six people who were killed when a Philippine air force helicopter crashed in the southern province of Agusan del Sur on Tuesday. The crew was on its way to provide humanitarian help to provinces battered by the typhoon, the military said. It did not give the cause of the crash.

Kalmaegi dumped about one-and-a-half months' worth of rainfall in just a day on Tuesday in metropolitan Cebu, state forecaster Benison Estareja said.

It set off flash floods and caused a river and other waterways to swell in Cebu city and outlying towns. The resulting flooding engulfed residential communities, forcing residents to climb onto their roofs, where they desperately pleaded to be rescued as floodwaters quickly rose, provincial officials said.

Rampaging floodwaters submerged or swept away scores of vehicles in Cebu's residential enclaves, in shocking scenes that were caught on camera by residents stranded on roofs.

Storm after storm

The Philippines is battered by about 20 typhoons and storms each year. The country also is often hit by earthquakes and has more than a dozen active volcanoes, making it one of the world's most disaster-prone countries.

Vietnam, which gets about a dozen typhoons and storms a year, has been pummelled by a relentless series this year, leaving little time to recover between disasters.

Typhoon Ragasa dumped torrential rain in late September, then Typhoon Bualoi slammed the central coast and Typhoon Matmo resulted in flooding in the north. Together, the three storms left more than 85 people dead or missing in two weeks, and caused an estimated $US1.36 billion ($2.16 billion) in damage.

Vietnam is among the world's most flood-prone countries, with nearly half its population living in high-risk areas. Scientists warn that a warming climate is intensifying storms and rainfall across Southeast Asia, making floods like this year's increasingly destructive and frequent.

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WARNING: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised this story contains an image of a person who is deceased.

Three children and a man have died in a horror house fire in central Queensland.

Five-month-old Desmond and two-year-old Maddison were staying with family friends at a duplex on Opal Street in Emerald when the blaze erupted about 6.48am (7.48am AEDT) today.

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Two others also died in the fire, including local man Mathew Chilly as well as a teenager.

The children's mother made it out of the duplex alive and was taken to hospital.

The toddlers' great aunt, Sally Woulfe, said the tragedy would affect a lot of families in the small community.

"Desmond was only born five months ago," Woulfe told 9News.

"Maddi, just a bright little girl, just like a normal two-year-old.

"They were loved, they're an Aboriginal family so lots of aunties, lots of uncles."

The children's father was away in Toowoomba for medical treatment.

Investigators are looking at a number of potential causes, including an electric scooter battery.

"We don't actually know what happened yet," Woulfe said.

Senior Sergeant Peter McFarlane said the tragedy would be felt for some time.

"Learning four lives are lost inside, it's been quite traumatic on all emergency services," McFarlane said.

It took fire crews about 30 minutes to bring the blaze under control, while some neighbours pulled out garden hoses and water bottles in a desperate bid to douse the flames.

"The intensity of that fire is something that they would not be able to stop or make an effective attack on, but just we really do appreciate their support," Queensland Fire Department Inspector Scott Castree

Premier David Crisafulli described the incident as a "real tragedy".

"I just want to start by saying how incredibly sad it is to see the loss of four lives in that tragic house fire, and how much that will affect the local community," Crisafulli said.

"When you deal with smaller towns, there is no doubt that those connections will be felt and the loss will be felt so deeply.

"The connections of school and support, community groups, emergency services personnel … and the tragedy that it will ripple through that community."

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Crisafulli also expressed sympathy for the families of the victims and the neighbours who witnessed the blaze.

"On behalf of the government, I express my deepest sympathies for what is an incredibly harrowing experience," he said.

Central Highlands Mayor Janice Moriarty said the council was "deeply saddened" by news of the fire.

"Council understands that authorities are investigating the cause of the fire, and we offer our full support and cooperation to responding agencies," Moriarty said in a statement.

"On behalf of the Central Highlands Regional Council and the broader community, our thoughts extend to the family and friends of those impacted."

The family is rallying support through a online fundraising page to help surviving members who have been struck by the tragedy.

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Over 30,000 people have reported feeling the quake so far.

A woman's desperate triple zero call the night she was killed at home has been made public after a jury found her former partner guilty of murder.

Tatiana "Tanya" Dokhotaru died in her 22nd-floor apartment in south-west Sydney on the night of May 26, 2023.

"Yes, hi. My ex-boyfriend's here and he's trying to kill me," she told the operator during an 89-second call.

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Danny Zayat was found guilty of murder by majority verdict after a month-long jury trial in the NSW Supreme Court.

The triple zero call was released by the court after the verdict, along with numerous exhibits, including CCTV footage showing Zayat running from the building after the murder.

Phone videos of bruising on Dokhotaru's neck from an earlier attack by Zayat were also made public.

The jury heard he had stolen $130,000 cash, his ex-girlfriend had kept stashed at home in a shoebox, earned from her Instagram business selling imitation designer goods.

Zayat's lawyer had claimed his texts to Dokhotaru weeks before her death undermined allegations he badly beat her with the intention of ending her life.

Texts sent by the 30-year-old show he loved and cherished her, despite their volatile and dysfunctional relationship, the jury was told.

"I really wish things could have been different between us but I'm a f— up … I don't want to continue to drag you down with me like I have been," Zayat texted her on May 6.

"You will always be my first proper love, and I don't think I could ever love anyone else like I love you."

Zayat's barrister, Madeleine Avenell SC, argued there was a reasonable possibility that Dokhotaru's fatal brain injury might have been a result of accidents rather than three injuries inflicted by Zayat.

The builder told reporters in an interview before he was charged with murder that his ex had died from a drug overdose.

Thursday's 11-1 verdict showed the jury sided with the Crown, which had extensively detailed Zayat's prior violence and control towards his victim.

Dokhotaru had confided in a friend that her ex-partner had allegedly dragged her by the hair, spat on her repeatedly and threatened to kill her during a fight.

"I was fighting him off. I tried calling the cops, but he said he'll kill me if I do," she wrote on April 13.

"It was absolute hell. My body is in shock. My mind is too."

In the messages read out in court, Dokhotaru confided she felt "so humiliated and violated" after the alleged assault and was struggling to process it.

Weeks later, she told her friend Zayat attacked her again after claiming she had been messaging his friend.

"He strangled me so bad, my throat is so bruised and swollen, I can barely breathe," Dokhotaru texted on May 1.

Dokhotaru's parents, who live in Canada, testified in October about Zayat's regular abusive phone calls to their daughter during a visit in 2022.

Zayat was remanded in custody until his sentence on December 19.

Justice Desmond Fagan dismissed defence pleas to not move so quickly to sentence, despite hearing that state-funded psychological and psychiatric reports would need to be prepared.

"Legal Aid must consider this promptly … and someone must prepare in anticipation of getting that grant," he said.

Dokhotaru's parents were not in Australia for the verdicts.

Support is available from the National Sexual Assault, Domestic and Family Violence Counselling Service at 1800RESPECT (1800 737 732).

A man is in critical condition after being attacked by several dogs in Sydney's west.

Emergency services arrived at a property in Kildare Road in Doonside about 11am following reports of a dog attack.

When officers arrived, they were told a man had been attacked by several dogs.

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The 54-year-old was treated at the scene by paramedics before being taken to Westmead Hospital in a critical condition.

Six dogs have been seized from the property by Blacktown City Council. 

A council spokesperson said three dogs would be euthanised.

"At the request of the owners, three dogs, believed to be of the cross Bull Arab type, were voluntarily surrendered to Council and have been euthanised," the spokesperson said in a statement.

"Preliminary information indicates the incident began when several large dogs attacked smaller dogs on the property.

"Council is committed to community safety and will continue to support police as enquiries continue."

This incident comes as the second dog attack in Sydney this week after a man was mauled inside his unit on Monday.

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Ashley Gordon's loved ones were meant to meet him for lunch one summer's day, but instead ended up saying goodbye to him in a morgue.

When his sisters, niece and other family members set off from regional Victoria to Melbourne on January 13, 2024, they had no idea the beloved 33-year-old GP was already dead.

He had been stabbed by a 16-year-old boy in Doncaster, in Melbourne's east, in a knife attack that pierced his heart.

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"You took my brother Ashley's life and in doing so shattered ours," Ashley's sister Tammy Gordon told the Supreme Court today.

"I don't know how you live with yourself, knowing you have taken a life so viciously."

Victim impact statements from members of the Gordon family described the pain of an empty chair at family celebrations and loved ones struggling to come to terms with his death.

Sister Natalie Gordon's arm is covered with a tattoo of the brother she describes as her lifelong best friend, the person she thought would be there to help navigate life's toughest moments.

"Ashley and I were always in each other's corner. Now my corner is empty," Natalie told the court.

She is pained knowing he will never have a family of his own and can't comprehend his life was taken by a teenager.

"If you ever come looking for forgiveness, do not come looking for me. I will never forgive you," she said.

Ashley's mother Catherine said her life was without joy and like a nightmare from which there was no escape.

"There is such a gaping hole in my life. Nothing can fill it," her daughter Natalie said on her behalf.

The now-18-year-old killer, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was in June convicted of murder by a jury and admitted to two counts of aggravated burglary.

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The court previously heard the teen and a friend broke into Ashley's home in Doncaster as the GP slept and stole several items.

Later on, the teen and three others returned, but this time Ashley was awake and chased them out onto the street.

He got into his car, followed the group and caught up with them at a nearby carport where the boy stabbed the GP.

During his trial, the teen said he thought Ashley tried to kill him with his car and continued advancing even when he pulled out the knife and said "I don't want to do this".

On Thursday, Justice Amanda Fox said she found the teen's evidence Ashley had put his head down and ran at a person with a knife "implausible".

Defence barrister Amelia Beech requested her client stay in a youth justice facility as long as possible in the hope it would increase his chance of rehabilitation.

She raised his age and lack of prior convictions, describing the offending as spontaneous and not gang-related.

"We submit that there are early signs of insight and early signs of remorse," Beech said.

Senior crown prosecutor Kristie Churchill described the stabbing as a ferocious attack and called for a lengthy prison term.

She said the teen's claim of self-defence was in dispute, telling the court Ashley was barefoot and unarmed when he was killed.

The teenager will be sentenced later in 2025.

A rail worker has died after a bridge collapsed when it was hit by a "cherry picker" truck in New South Wales' Central West.

Emergency services worked for hours to free the trapped 34-year-old, who was a passenger in the truck, but he died at the scene.

The 38-year-old driver of the truck managed to escape the cabin.

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"The scene presented some complexities for responding emergency services," said Acting Superintendent John Walke.

"We've had to use cranes and so forth in order to try and move the bridge and safely remove the vehicle."

"It's a very unfortunate and tragic result."

Both men were Sydney Trains workers. 

SafeWork NSW has been notified.

Emergency services were called to Inch Street in Lithgow following reports of the truck crash about 8.50am.

Officers responded to find that a 'cherry picker' had hit the bridge, causing it to collapse.

"We'll be supporting not only our own staff but our people across the railway who will feel this loss and working as we investigate the cause of this accident," Sydney Trains Chief Executive Matt Longland said.

A recovery operation is still ongoing as emergency services continue to try and safely move the bridge and remove the truck. 

Part of the investigation into the cause will examine the driver's speed and whether there was adequate signage on the bridge.

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Footage is being reviewed as authorities try to identify those involved.